Chicken soup with a layer of glistening oil floating on top!!
“Shh~ Don’t tell anyone!” Lin Xiaohe raised a finger to her lips.
“This is way too precious—we can’t take it.” Da Ya pushed it back.
Never mind that it was a famine year—even in good times, you couldn’t just accept someone’s chicken soup! And there was meat in it too!
“Come on! Don’t you think of me as your sister anymore? You two used to look after me all the time—now you won’t let me look after you?”
Lin Xiaohe wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Eat up. We’ve only got this many bowls—if you don’t eat, we won’t have any bowls left for ourselves.”
The two sisters swallowed hard, feeling embarrassed, but they couldn’t help themselves—they eagerly opened their mouths.
They didn’t even need chopsticks. In no time, they’d devoured every drop of the chicken soup and the yams along with it.
The meat was so fragrant—they hadn’t had a proper meal in so long, the smell of meat completely overwhelmed them.
“Still hungry? Here, take two more potatoes. Bring these back for Auntie.
Be careful—don’t let anyone notice.”
Lin Xiaohe sighed and handed them four potatoes. “If you need any help, Er Ya Jie, just come and let us know.”
She didn’t include a portion for her little cousin—those two old monsters only mistreated the girls; they wouldn’t go after the boy.
Both girls’ eyes reddened instantly. Their cousin from another branch was worried about whether they could even get food, whether they’d starve—while their own father had given things away without a second thought, never once considering if they’d live or die.
Da Ya’s gaze shifted. “Xiaohe, could I trade a gold ring for some food?”
“Sure, but where are you getting a gold ring?”
“I don’t have it yet. But I will soon.”
The two sisters went home with four potatoes tucked away. The mother and daughters hid in their room and ate them, then came back out.
Da Ya nudged her mom.
Huang Hong pressed her lips together and stepped forward.
“Lin Qiang, let’s get a divorce. The kids are coming with me.”
Lin Qiang stared in disbelief. “What are you saying? Have you lost your mind?! Go ask around the whole brigade—who’s ever heard of a woman getting a divorce? What would people say? Where’s my dignity?”
Huang Hong had been wavering, but after hearing those words, her resolve hardened. Even now, all he cared about was his pride?
“I’m telling you, not asking. I’m taking all three kids.”
“Pah! Dream on! You think you’re taking my precious grandson? Get out, get out, get out!”
Qian Sancao exploded, spittle flying everywhere.
He was the only precious grandson in the house right now.
If that woman took him away, people would laugh them to death—saying every branch of their family had ended without a male heir.
After Fourth Brother’s wife gave birth to a boy, then maybe they could let the first branch take him. But not now.
“I’m not negotiating with you either. I know a lot of things from all these years. If you push me too far, we’ll all go down together.”
Huang Hong had always been meek and submissive, afraid to speak up.
That’s exactly the kind of daughter-in-law Qian Sancao had handpicked—one who wouldn’t dare defy her.
She never expected that one by one, they’d all turn against her!
She was about to curse when Old Man Lin grabbed her arm.
The old man shot her a dark, menacing look.
Reading the meaning in his eyes, she shrank back. “Fine. Do whatever you want.”
“Our Lin family isn’t heartless. We’ll give you 30 yuan and 20 jin of grain.
You know how hard times are—we can’t spare more than that.”
Huang Hong gritted her teeth and agreed. She had a pretty good idea of how much the household had.
“I also remember there’s a gold ring and a jade bracelet in the house. I’m taking those too.”
The gold ring was for her daughter—she didn’t know what Da Ya wanted it for.
The jade bracelet…
Old Man Lin’s expression shifted again. Those had never been brought out before—how did she know about them?
“Fine.”
When Lin Xiaohe went to Aunt Wu Xiang’s the next morning to get the latest, she learned that her aunt had already moved out with the three kids.
They were staying in an empty room at the educated youth compound.
She was about to head over there when someone blocked her way.
“Xiaohe, your Fourth Uncle came to my place first thing this morning saying something’s happened at home. What’s going on?”
It was her Second Aunt, Lin Xia—same mother as the eldest uncle, but not her father.
Second Aunt had married into town and now worked as a temp at the supply store, having taken over her mother-in-law’s position. One permanent post had been turned into two temp jobs—one for her and one for her husband’s sister. Whether they could get permanent positions depended on their own efforts.
“Yesterday a woman came to borrow grain from Uncle. He lent it, and then that person didn’t let Auntie or Er Ya and Da Ya eat.”
“Auntie said she wanted a divorce from Uncle. She’s taken the three kids and already moved into the educated youth compound.”
Lin Xia’s brow furrowed deeply. She hadn’t expected so much to happen back home in the short time she’d been recovering from childbirth.
“Here, take this home. I’ll go check on the educated youth compound.”
She pulled a cloth bag out of her bike basket. “Supplies are tight in town too, so I don’t have anything fancy—just some coarse grain to tide you over.”
She hadn’t even known her third brother’s family was in trouble until she heard it on the road just now. Good thing she’d brought something along.
“Thank you, Second Aunt.”
“Don’t mention it—we’re family.” Lin Xia waved her hand, pedaled her bike, and turned toward the educated youth compound.
Lin Xiaohe didn’t follow. Instead, she headed home.
With everything that had happened, they hadn’t gone to sell wild greens today.
“Sis, how’d it go?” Xiaogu pounced on her like a dog on a bone the moment she walked in.
“Auntie’s already moved out with Er Ya Jie and the others to the educated youth compound. Second Aunt came back too—not sure what’ll happen next.
Let’s not worry about all that for now. Let’s go buy some brown sugar and find Yuya—we promised yesterday.
Oh, and we got some fresh mushrooms yesterday too. Let’s take them along and see if we can sell them.”
“Okay!”
They’d barely passed by the grain and oil shop when someone called out to them.
“Finally spotted you! How come you didn’t come this morning?”
Yuan Zhiqiang saw them from a distance and waved them over.
“Hehe, Uncle, did you need something? We had some family stuff today, so we didn’t come sell.” Lin Xiaohe smiled sheepishly.
“Nothing major—just wanted to ask if you had any more honey. Your aunt and I would like to buy some more.”
“Honey? That’s hard to say.
Tell you what, Uncle—if I get any, I’ll let you know first. If you don’t want it, then I’ll sell it elsewhere. How’s that?”
Lin Xiaohe didn’t dare promise anything outright.
“Perfect, perfect! What’s in your basket there?”
Lin Xiaohe held the basket forward. “Just some mushrooms. I thought I’d try selling them.”
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